The Goblin Children
by Aidrienne Levine
Summary: Jareth's brother Gabriel finds yet another goblin hybrid child, one of his of course. Now Jareth has to figure out what to do with this child, her older sister,and her sister's friend. Please read/review!!!
1. Prolouge

This is it, another one of my stories. Seeing as nobody read my last one sob sob I was seriously   
discouraged, but I hope that you like this one. It's unfinished, and I don't plan on posting anymore unless I   
get some reviews (hopefully good ones) but I can promise if I do, this will be a strange, original story.   
Thanks! Tael.  
Usual disclaimers apply. I don't own: Jareth, Sarah (who might not even be directly mentioned),   
Godzilla, or any other character, Labyrinthine or otherwise, and especially not the Labyrinth itself, except   
for Niki, Kelly, Lissa, and of course Gabe.  
  
  
  
  
  
In a stuffy living room in the middle of summer, a four-year-old was screaming her head off about   
  
something or another. A scraggily fifteen-year-old, tall for her age ignored the girl as long as was humanly   
  
possibly. Kelly, her little sister, was having a fit, again. Niki sighed and went to comfort the annoying four-  
  
year-old. When would she grow up and sleep normally, like other humans. Sometimes she was sure that   
  
Kelly wasn't fully human. She was surprised how right she was.  
  
  
***************************************************************************  
  
  
Gabriel sat in a comfy office chair, with steepled fingers, looking seriously over at his newest   
  
"patient". His newest post at the Alcohol rehabilitation was giving him an excellent opportunity to corrupt   
  
and seduce people, some hardly over 12, into resubmitting to their horrible addictions. His current disguise   
  
was that of a young man, quite like his real self, with raven black hair, but with a small black goatee. The   
  
main difference was his eyes, which were startling green instead of his usual mismatched piercing blue,   
  
which ran in the family. He turned to his young green-eyed brown-haired patient.  
  
"Would you like a drink?" He asked the fifteen-year-old as he offered her a small black bottle.  
  
She eyed him hatefully. "I don't drink. I never have." She hissed. He countered her mean glare   
  
with a cool, even one of his own.  
  
"Perhaps some pills then?" He asked, rattling a drawer filled with numerous kinds.  
  
She shot daggers at him. " I don't do any of that. What are you doing? Who are you, the devil, or   
  
something?"  
  
He chuckled. "Perhaps. What do you do, if not substances? Are you maybe addicted to something   
  
else?" His lightly accented voice was silky. He glanced at his records for the girl. "What's your name...   
  
Melissa?"  
  
"Yes, that's it. No, I'm not." She said, still just keeping control on her voice. "Look, what the hell   
  
are you doing here. If you don't tell me, I'm gonna tell the warden!"  
  
He looked at her across the desk. There was just no getting through to this one. He stood up, and   
  
loosened his tie, walking around the desk with slow measured steps. "I'm just here to make sure that no   
  
good little girls like you slip through my clutches." He reached to put his hand on her shoulder.  
  
She spun around to face him. "Just what do you think you're doing, you jerk?! First you   
  
offer me alcohol, then pills, and then, and then!!!" She raised a hand to slap him, but then they both   
  
blinked into the underground, pulled by the summons of a king.  
  
  
  



	2. Into the Labyrinth

I forgot to mention, this is sort of a duet story. Me and this other Labyrinth fanatic (how many of them aer   
there?!) are writing this. So half the credit for this story, good or bad, goes to Navi, my friend. So read on   
fair readers, and please review. See last chapter for disclaimers. I tried to make it longer, for Stephanie,   
because it was short last time. I did that because people don't like long stories anymore than really short   
ones. Hopefully this will be closer to the write length (ha ha, bad pun.)  
  
With a flash of glitter, a four-year-old sat in the middle of the throne room in the castle beyond the   
  
goblin city. Kelly stared around her in amazement. Just a second ago, Niki was being really mean, but now   
  
she was in a big stone house with a really scary looking man. He knelt so he was eye-level with the little   
  
girl. He smiled warmly, revealing pointed teeth."Hello Kelly. My name is Jareth. Do you know why you're   
  
here?"  
  
Kelly's brown eyes were wide. She asked cautiously, "Am I dreaming?"  
  
Jareth's laugh was warm and comforting, at least in the four-year-old's eyes. "No, Kelly. Niki   
  
wished you away. She was mad, and never wanted to see you again. Would you like to see her?" Kelly   
  
nodded. Maybe Niki would tell her why she was here. "Alright then, little one. Niki, I summon thee!" He   
  
added this last part, just for show, but it impressed Kelly enough to see her older sister appear.   
  
Niki looked disoriented and slightly shimmery, but no worse for the jump. Jareth was surprised   
  
that she hadn't gotten pulled in with her sister. Jumping from one world to the next was a risky business,   
  
and usually anything or anyone close to, or touching, the person would get pulled along as well. Niki   
  
looked at first her younger sister, clinging to her legs, and then at the ornately clad Goblin King. "Why   
  
have you brought me here?"  
  
"Don't be a cod fish, Niki. You wished away your little sister." He snuck up close to them to rub   
  
Kelly's hair. Over Kelly's head he added, "By the way, you were right, she was half-goblin."  
  
Niki gasped at this obscene proposal. "Nu-uh. I would've noticed you around my house."  
  
Jareth smiled coyly. "I'm not her sire. I'm afraid that is my brother's doing. And after I've told   
  
him not to mess with mortals. Let's bring him here to see what we can do about this little mix-up." He said   
  
calmly referring to Kelly.  
  
Niki just looked at him. "I know her father. He's my step-dad. Right?"  
  
"Wrong, I'm afraid. Before I bring in my brother, I suppose I must introduce myself. I am Jareth   
  
the Goblin King, of the Realm of the Underground, Ruler of the Labyrinth and it's surrounding lands,   
  
honorary duke of the land of the Fae…"  
  
"Alright, thanks." Niki said. Jareth complied with an elegant bow. "So you're saying that Kelly is   
  
half-goblin? Why doesn't she look like a goblin?"  
  
"That's simple. She's lived in the mortal realm too long."  
  
"Goblin's don't even exist. You're crazy. You're drawing us into your delusions."  
  
Jareth looked at her coolly, and amusedly, and then snapped his fingers. Instantly a line of goblins   
  
appeared bearing trays and pitchers of refreshments for the guests. Niki gasped, and politely refused, but   
  
Kelly was amazed, and munched on an offered cookie as she gazed at the goblins. "Is that proof enough?   
  
And look at your sister."  
  
Niki did, and found she was looking awfully goblinesque. She skin was turning an aqua-blue. Her   
  
ears were getting pointy, as were her already sharp teeth. Her bobbed brown hair and large puppy eyes   
  
remained the same. Niki gasped, as much at the fact that her sister was turning into a goblin, as that she   
  
actually cared about the little brat. "Kelly, are you okay?" Kelly nodded, her mouth full of cake.  
  
"Now as to her father. GABRIEL!!!!!" He screamed. He knew his brother would resist his call,   
  
but an order he had no choice.  
  
Melissa and Gabriel rocketed through the worlds to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth.   
  
Gabriel managed to keep his balance, but Melissa flew across the world and smashed into a wall. Niki and   
  
Kelly rushed to see if she was okay.  
  
"Oh dear, I should've foreseen that one," Jareth said regretfully.  
  
"Serves her right for hitting me." Gabriel answered to his brother.  
  
"You probably deserved it, "Jareth said, before fixing the girls concussion with another snap. Niki   
  
helped the girl to her feet, and Kelly patted her arm sympathetically. Then they looked at each other in   
  
disbelief.  
  
"Niki!?" Melissa asked.  
  
"Lissa?" Niki asked simultaneously. "Lissa, we're in the Labyrinth!!!"  
  
  
  
Melissa, or Lissa, looked perplexed, but then it dawned on her. "I'm out of that loony bin? A   
  
ha!!!!" She danced around briefly, and then sat down holding her head. Obviously the healing snap hadn't   
  
gone as far as to heal her headache. "The Labyrinth? How did I get here?"  
  
"Let me answer that one, dear brother." Gabriel said cruelly, pushing his brother aside lightly.   
  
"My brother thought I needed to return to my native home, so he interrupted our session without looking   
  
ahead to see if I was in direct contact with any mortals"  
  
"Direct contact?" Melissa asked perplexed.  
  
"You were slapping me, dearest." Gabriel purred.  
  
"Dearest, my ass, you stupid jerk." Melissa spat.  
  
"Brother, guests, let's try to get along. Business first, quarrels later." Jareth said, playing the good   
  
host. "It seems, Gabe, that yet another one of your human excursions has produced a child. What do you   
  
suggest we do with this one?"  
  
Gabriel hesitated, and then began suggesting, "The salt mines?"  
  
"That'll never work." Jareth said. "She's far too small."  
  
"The crystal factory?"   
  
"No!" Niki replied.  
  
"Perhaps we might send her to an institution?"  
  
"Not even funny." Melissa replied.  
  
"Why were you in there in the first place?" Niki asked.  
  
"I told you, my dad had me committed. He thought I was on drugs."  
  
"That's probably the way you act normally." Gabe quipped.  
  
"It was" Niki and Melissa replied simultaneously.   
  
Jareth sighed and rubbed his temples. "As entertaining as this conversation may be, we have some   
  
other things to discuss."   
  
"I don't see why she can't just come home with me." Niki said. She didn't like the idea of her   
  
sister as a child laborer; no matter how much she despised the annoying kid.   
  
"I suppose we could do that, brother." Gabriel put in.  
  
"In your dreams, brother. You know what happens if you send them back to the mortal realm.   
  
Unless they've learned proper control like you and me, well," Jareth shivered visibly. "You remember what   
  
happened to your son Godzilla."  
  
"Godzilla? He's your son. Are you serious?" Niki asked. Only in the Labyrinth would anything   
  
like that be taken seriously.  
  
"Unfortunately." Gabriel sighed. His dark hair framed a tragic face.  
  
"You see, the magic, or lack of it to be specific, in the mortal realm is very dangerous for someone   
  
who hasn't learned control." Jareth added, speaking exactly like a teacher.  
  
Melissa shrugged. "So you're basically saying she can't go home."  
  
"Correct." Gabriel said. "She can't go running around like some day-walker anymore."  
  
That exact phrase rung a bell in Jareth's head. Where had he heard that before? Surely it was   
  
related to the answer of this plight.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. We found it in a bike shop in Cairo

Not everyone can be lucky enough to go into the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth is like AOL, you can sign up, but you'll never get in.   
How many times have we wished away siblings or pets, or even ourselves. We are all delusional. If you haven't read my Disclaimer, it's in the first chapter,  
and if you haven't read that, why the ehck are you reading this, you weirdo?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"Blimey, I've got it!" Jareth shouted, springing up from his throne. "Those stupid yanks from the   
  
kingdom next door, what is their name? The Sackville-Baggs, I believe, have just had another obnoxious   
  
bundle of joy. But I believe that one of them, Rudolph, I believe is the name of the brat. He's about Kelly's   
  
age."  
  
"Hmm...yes, I quite like that idea, brother." Gabriel agreed, eager to get back to his former   
  
business.  
  
"Wait, you guys are just going to marry my sister off to some goblin?" Niki asked, clearly   
  
disturbed at the notion.  
  
"Actually, he's a vampire." Jareth added.  
  
Niki sighed and shook her head, Kelly looked tremendously afraid and Melissa was slightly   
  
pleased at the notion. Jareth began to pace as he thought over the details, but found his mind fuzzy with   
  
boredom and sleep.  
  
"Alright kiddies, court adjourned. Gabriel will you please show these young ladies to their room?"   
  
Jareth ordered, though it was phrased as a question.  
  
"What do I look like brother, a slave? I am the royal heir to the throne, and you cannot…"  
  
"You are heir to the throne only if I die. I am the throne!" With that, Jareth blinked out, probably   
  
to his room and his waiting queen. Gabriel sighed and turned to face the unwilling guests.  
  
"If you will follow me, Gabe the Slave, to your chambers." He said sardonically, and he stalked   
  
off at a too-fast pace towards the east wing of the castle. He ripped a torch off the wall as he passed.  
  
"If the shoe fits." Melissa said, and followed him at a half run. Niki sighed and took Kelly's   
  
hands, following the already fading flare of torchlight.  
  
The flaming torchlight threw shadows on Gabriel's face, twisting his figures and hauling again to   
  
the front of his mind painful memories. How many years had he been free now? It seemed only years, but   
  
he knew it had been decades since Jareth had saved him. He sighed loudly, and quickened his pace. He   
  
could never get over that, his debt to Jareth. It was true they were brothers; they were actually very close   
  
brothers. The only difference was their mothers. They were half brothers, actually.  
  
It had all started because of that. Jareth's mother, the Goblin queen had discovered this bastard   
  
child of the King, and flew into frenzy. She had the King put to death (he only had the title, not the royal   
  
blood), but she was too softhearted to have the baby disposed of in a like matter. So he was put away and   
  
forgotten, left to rot in the dungeons of the Labyrinth. A true child of the Oubliette, he kept to the shadows   
  
his whole life, even after his brother found out about this and set him free.  
  
"Are you alright?" Came a soft voice interrupting his thought. He turned to see his unwilling   
  
corrupttee. She looked sincerely concerned, but it might've been the light.  
  
"It's nothing you would understand." He said roughly, as he turned to the right in the small stone   
  
corridors. What he said next, he couldn't' believe his words. "You've never been a prisoner."  
  
Melissa walked beside his silently for a while. He unconsciously slowed his pace so she might   
  
keep up with him. "What would you call that rehab place? The same thing day after day; the councilors that   
  
talk to you as if you're a slug. I hadn't even done anything. That was prison enough to me."  
  
Gabriel regretted his unplanned word. He even thought he detected what might've been tears in   
  
her eyes, but it may have only been the torchlight. Before he could think of some apologetic thing to say,   
  
they had finally reached the drafty guest rooms. "Here, here are your rooms. Sorry about the cold, there are   
  
more blankets in the closet. "Til the night, then." He lit the torch on the wall, and left towards his unknown   
  
destination.  
  
Melissa found a bed in the chamber, and lay down, trying not to notice the dampness of the sheets.   
  
She usually did her best to ignore feelings, but sometimes they got in the way. She heard Kelly and Niki   
  
settle down. Then she heard the soft breathing of sleep. Melissa sighed and relaxed, knowing, or at least   
  
hoping, that she was finally alone. "Lissa?" she jumped, and turned to see the shadowy figure of Niki   
  
crouching beside her bed. "Lissa, let's go explore the castle!"  
  
Melissa sighed and rolled out of bed. "Ok," She whispered to her friend. How they had both   
  
wound up in the Labyrinth together was still a mystery to her. So Niki and her crept out of the drafty room   
  
into the hallway. Melissa held the torch, although awkwardly, because she hadn't had much former   
  
practice. The darkened corridors of the castle were like a Labyrinth themselves, and it wasn't long before   
  
Niki began to have doubts. She was about to voice this conscious, but they heard a scuffling sound behind   
  
them. Although they may have guessed it was probably only an old goblin shuffling toward the chamber   
  
pot, but they didn't and they broke into a run. At one fork they both decided to go separate ways, and got a   
  
few steps before they turned back to run into each other. They would have laughed, but in their minds they   
  
were in serious trouble.   
  
"Niki" Melissa gasped in between breaths. "Niki, what are we running from?"  
  
Then Niki and Melissa collapsed to the ground and into a fit of giggles. They had almost caught   
  
their breath when they heard heavier footsteps coming from the other direction. They looked at each other   
  
with frightened plate eyes.   
  
"No need to run, I've already spotted you, you little miscreants." Came a manly voice from the   
  
shadows.  
  
Niki and Melissa were barely on their feet before Gabriel caught them both by the collars of their   
  
shirts. He turned them to face him, showing amazing strength in his lean figure. "and what, may I ask, are   
  
you two doing in this wing of the castle? You're at least a mile away from your own chambers." His dark   
  
eyes were frightening but amused.   
  
"We...um...we were looking for a bike shop Cairo."  
  
"We stole it."  
  
"That's the meaning of life?" Melissa proposed, glancing to Niki to see if she had any more ideas.  
  
"So you're saying you had no reason to be here? Then you will just have to suffer the   
  
consequences." Gabriel said, his bright eyes flashing. His dark hair swirled like an unholy halo around his   
  
pale face as he "Mwa ha ha ha!!"ed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Mwa ha ha ha

  
A new chapter for you to enjoy. I think I might've made a bad desicsion to start posting this before it was fully written. It is veery mlong, I'm afraid.  
I hope you enjoy it, tell me what you think about it, because it seems to be getting really strange as it gets longer.   
Thanks, Tael.   
  
  
  
  
  
"Mwa ha ha ha!!" Gabriel laughed hysterically. "Now do I consequence you!"  
  
"Consequence us?" Niki whispered to Melissa.  
  
"Ahem, yes, consequence you one at a time, or together?" He put them down,   
  
and almost automatically two hands went up to rub their sore necks from where the   
  
collars had chapped them.  
  
"How about neither." Melissa suggested. She motioned subtly to Niki they had to   
  
get out of there.  
  
"Don't even think about," and the two girls dashing off again in the other direction   
  
interrupted then Gabriel. "Running away. Oh, children, children. Outrunning a teleporter."  
  
And with that he appeared right in front of the two girls. With it being dark,   
  
Melissa ran smack dab into him, with Niki running into Melissa's back. The three of them   
  
fell over with a scream that could've been issued by one or both of the girls. Melissa   
  
hurriedly backed up into a wall, not knowing what they had run into with her weak mortal   
  
nightsight. Niki stood up and began reprimanding who she thought to be Melissa. "Why   
  
would you just stop like that?!" she demanded. "I almost had a heart attack."  
  
"Well I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it appears Melissa did as well." Gabriel said   
  
smoothly as he stood up and dusted himself off. Niki stumbled back to where Melissa sat   
  
and almost tripped again. Gabriel lit a torch on the wall, leaving bright spots in the girls'   
  
eyes. He spoke again walking towards them lithely. "Now, about those consequences."  
  
Melissa and Niki were both on their feet now, preparing to run again, but they   
  
were stopped as they heard a new voice. "Gabriel, what have I told you about tormenting   
  
my husband's guest?"  
  
The speaker was female, with a head of flowing brown hair that neatly hid her   
  
face from their vision. She was wearing a long nightgown, but she still had the air of   
  
someone royal.  
  
"Oh, milady. Forgive me, I was just showing these young ladies back to their   
  
room, they were lost." Gabriel lied quickly. He bowed slightly to show respect, or to hide   
  
his eyes from the disapproving look from the women.  
  
This lady smiled slyly. "Make sure you do, Gabriel, or I will personally inform your   
  
brother about his" she smile warmly at the girls, showing off a row of pearly white. Her   
  
eyes were hazel like Melissa, but her thigh-length hair had a much more Niki-ish quality   
  
to it.  
  
" Sure thing, my Queen." He crossed his arms in an impatient gesture, and the   
  
queen returned gracefully to her own chambers across the hall. Now he turned back to   
  
the girls. He offered them each an arm. "If you will."  
  
"We most certainly will not." Melissa said.  
  
"We aren't about to suffer "the consequences". You're even weirder than us!"   
  
Niki added.  
  
"If that's humanly, or well at least inhumanly, possible." Melissa finished for the two of them.  
  
"I simply need to escort you to your rooms. We can't get there without direct   
  
contact, remember sweetling?" He said in a silky voice. Melissa shook her head, but she   
  
knew he was right. Grudgingly she offered her hand, as did Niki a second later. They   
  
braced themselves for the shock, Melissa especially (she still hadn't gotten over that   
  
headache), but none came. With a gentle flash of light, they reappeared in the chambers   
  
they left what seemed like hours ago. Kelly still slept soundly, and now the modest beds   
  
seemed very welcome. Niki and Melissa wrenched their hands away from Gabriel's   
  
almost simultaneously. But he held onto Melissa's, drawing it slowly to his lips. Then   
  
softly to her he added "'Til the night."   
  
"Yeah, um, 'til the night." Melissa returned, lacking any retort. Then with another   
  
flash Gabriel was gone. Melissa and Niki both sank into identical beds with identical   
  
sighs of relief and exhaustion.  
  
Jareth yawned as he angrily paced down the dark hall. Sarah had asked   
  
him to make sure that his brother was not harassing their mortal (and one half0mortal)   
  
guests. He half-wished (for one never fully wished in the Labyrinth) that his queen might   
  
stop mothering Gabriel. At the bright age of 1900, Gabriel was perfectly capable of   
  
handling himself. But yet queen Sarah persisted to bother him.  
  
Jareth sighed and smiled, remembering how Gabriel had been so snobby to   
  
Sarah when she had first moved to the Labyrinth, over a decade ago. He treated her like   
  
an ignorant child, just because she was part mortal. He was fully immortal, though he   
  
and his brother we're only goblin half-breeds. Jareth had a full kingly background, half   
  
fae and half goblin. Gabriel's was more complicated, at half-goblin, quarter fae, and   
  
quarter vampire. That's what happens in royal families, Jareth thought. Now it was Sarah   
  
who was bossy and talked down to Gabriel, though not as maliciously as he did. He still   
  
regretted reprimanding his brother for what came naturally to a mischievous Fae like he   
  
was.  
  
He found Gabriel sitting outside of the girl's room. 'That's odd,' Jareth thought   
  
'the girls are all asleep.' He looked more closely at his brother. He had no fangs, so had   
  
obviously not harassed the girls in the sense of attacking them. Gabriel's long hands   
  
were covering his unusually coloured face. Jareth couldn't remember the last time he   
  
had seen his brother blush.  
  
Jareth snuck up beside him, hoping to scare the living nightlights out of him, and   
  
pull him out of this study, but he realized that Gabriel was talking to himself, murmuring   
  
just loud enough for the king's keen ears to pick up.  
  
"A mortal!" Gabriel muttered, "A young, foolish mortal! How could you? How   
  
could I? Ohhh, stupid mortals. I'm as bad as Jareth." Gabriel sighed and sunk further   
  
into his hands.  
  
Jareth's eyed widened at this overheard confession. So Gabriel was taken with   
  
these new mortals? Perhaps the one who blinked in with him, the Melissa creature? 'He   
  
could've chosen worse' Jareth thought, grinning wolfishly, 'Let's just see how this works   
  
out, without interfering.'  
  
And with that, Jareth flashed out as quietly and lightlessly as possible.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. When you wake up

So it's down to this, basically. This stories getting too damned long. I'm thinking it's   
pretty boring too, but I'm gonna keep writing, because my iron morality tells me if I don't   
then I'm a hack. Half-written stories are worse than long boring ones in my opinion.   
Therefore I'll dedicate this story to Erin, the boringest, most absolutely normal,   
conformist, average girl ever* wink wink *. Also, if Erin reads this and doesn't get that   
joke, she is also the most gullible.  
  
  
  
  
Niki and Melissa woke up to Kelly's crying. Glancing for a nonexistent alarm   
  
clock, Melissa saw the strange grey of false dawn through the glassless window. It was   
  
too early for the sun.  
  
"Niiikeeeeeeeyy!!!" Kelly screeched, "I have to go potty!" Niki sighed audibly and   
  
covered her head with her pillow. She promptly went back to sleep. Melissa giggled, as   
  
well as she could at this hour, and she showed Kelly the little enclosed area that   
  
contained a chamber pot. Kelly remarked that it reminded her of her training potty.  
  
Melissa attempted to fall asleep once more, but Kelly's incessant rambling and   
  
question asking kept her from that goal. Finally Melissa dragged herself out of bed, and   
  
she and Kelly looked for ways to amuse themselves. The room was large and long, with   
  
two large, pane-less windows at the end. Aside from the little enclosed area, there   
  
wasn't much there besides beds. But what beds they were. Aside from the normal   
  
human ones, there were also a few sets of smaller, goblin-sized beds, Melissa assumed.   
  
Next to the mini-beds, there was a set of coffins, an unsettling sight at any rate. There   
  
were some whispery hammocks, which were designed for Fae, judging by their frail   
  
appearance. There were even some bird perches for goddess knows what. It seems   
  
Jareth had a wide variety of guests.  
  
A bell tolled some where in the castle, and Melissa counted a mere seven   
  
chimes.  
  
"Oh No! It's seven o'clock. It's not fair! I shouldn't be up anywhere near this   
  
early!" Melissa said sadly.  
  
"No, it's not fair, but that's the way it is when you have a little sister." Niki said   
  
  
with a grin as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Her hair was a mess, and her cloths   
  
were all rumpled from sleeping. Melissa smothered a giggle before she realized she   
  
likely looked the same. "Too bad there's no iron."  
  
"Maybe in that old wardrobe?" Melissa wondered aloud, and walked over to the   
  
old oak one. She opened the clasp, and swung open the doors, when a bat flew out,   
  
causing her to stumble backwards, and Niki to scream. The bat flew quickly to the   
  
window, not causing any more damage. "I thought that they kept bats in the belfry."  
  
"It's too early for this." Niki muttered. With that scare over, they continued to   
  
explore the wardrobe. The only thing that fit Kelly was a chemise and this fluffy green   
  
thing that wrapped around her shoulders and torso, but Kelly was perfectly happy to   
  
wear that, so long as she might play with the jars of cosmetics in the drawer of the   
  
closet. Niki ended up in a bluish-green skirt, and a blue velvet shirt; Melissa in a pair of   
  
black breeches and a crimson silk shirt, both of which were made for a man. They both   
  
then chose a few choice pieces of the hilarious costume jewellery from the drawer.  
  
"Ha ha," Niki laughed. "We look like we're from the Revolutionary war or   
  
something."  
  
"That's a laugh." Melissa agreed, adding a black beret to complete her outfit. Niki   
  
giggled her appreciation.  
  
"You look so dashing George." She said, referring to our founding father.  
  
"Oh, and you as well, Martha." Melissa added with a lop-sided grin. Lop-sided   
  
grins were her specialty. Something rumbled, and Melissa frowned. "Was that your   
  
stomach or mine, Niki?"  
  
"Both I think." Niki said purposefully. They both looked to get Kelly, who was   
  
sitting there on the floor, wishing she were Britney Spears, judging by the amount of   
  
make-up she was wearing. Unfortunately, she didn't have the make-up artists to guide   
  
her chubby hands. Melissa smiled; glad Kelly hadn't wanted to play dress up. "Let's go,   
  
Kelly." Niki said softly, trying to sound serious.  
  
Then they set off out of the room again, in the opposite direction that they had left   
  
last night. After about 10 minutes of walking down a perfectly straight and ever   
  
narrowing hallway, Melissa and Niki began to get worried. "Maybe we should go back to   
  
our room and wait for someone to get us." Niki said worriedly as they got stuck walking   
  
shoulder to shoulder.   
  
So they turned around, but then gasped simultaneous gasps, Niki noticed that   
  
Kelly was missing, and Melissa noticed that the wall behind them was now a dead end,   
  
and they couldn't go back the way they came. They could only go forward, and Kelly was   
  
nowhere to be found.  
  
"Kelly?!" Niki cried. "  
  
"What...huh?" That's not fair! It keeps changing!"  
  
"No, it's not fair." Came the silky reply from behind them.   
  
"Niki?" Kelly said. The girls spun around to face, sure enough, Kelly walking right   
  
through a wall. Seconds later, holding the little girl's hand, cam Gabriel.  
  
"You again?" Niki said in dismay.  
  
"How'd you do that?" Melissa wanted to know, gently rapping the stone wall   
  
behind Kelly and Gabriel.  
  
"One-way walls." Gabriel said, leaning coolly against the wall next to Melissa.   
  
"My brother just can't get enough of them." He reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair off   
  
of her face, but she turned her head and pretended not to notice. He sighed and looked   
  
at his feet.  
  
"You all look lovely. Let me be the first to complement you all on your lovely   
  
outfit choices. Niki, what a lovely necklace." Her necklace was made of huge pink beads.   
  
"And Kelly, what a fine make-up job. Almost as pretty as my own." Kelly grinned and   
  
rubbed her face. Gabriel wore only the slightest makeup, eyeliner, maybe lip-gloss, and   
  
the sparkles, which were all over the place. He began talking again. "And, oh Melissa,   
  
The outfit choice is wonderful. In fact, I think that might be mine." Melissa looked down in   
  
embarrassment, and realized that he was wearing almost the same thing. He wore black   
  
tights, and a blood red shirt which contrasted with his pale face, and tall black boots,   
  
shiny from fresh cleaning. He stalked close to her while her attention was diverted. He   
  
reached up to rub the collar by her shoulder in his fingers, "Ah, yes, it was silk. I   
  
remember. It looks better on you, I would say." Melissa blushed at this remark, and Niki   
  
snickered. Gabriel looked down to smile at her, a sort of mocking, laughing smile.   
  
Kelly was Melissa's savoir. "I'm hungry." She grudgingly reminded them.  
  
Gabriel was drawn back to reality. "Oh, yes. I cam here to announce breakfast is   
  
served. I shall be dining with you all, in leau of the king, not that he's doing anything   
  
important." He added darkly. "So I came to escort you down, seeing as you don't know   
  
the castle very well." Niki and Melissa both looked at their feet. Gabriel chuckled.  
  
"Lead on." Melissa said, eager to get out of this sunless hallway. Gabriel offered   
  
his arm to Niki (Kelly was too short), but Niki simply looked at him blankly. He looked   
  
slightly put-off, but grinned and offered it to Melissa, who gently rested her hand on his   
  
wrist. She said to him, "she just doesn't read enough fantasy novels.  
  
"Oh, I see." He said grinning still, although he didn't see at all.  
  
"Guess what, Niki?" Kelly asked her older sister brightly.  
  
"What?" Niki asked glumly.  
  
"Gab-ree-elle turns into a bird, like the one from our borogrove." Kelly   
  
mispronounced. Lissa smiled up at Gabe from the new version of his name, he smiled   
  
back.  
  
"The borogrove?" Niki asked.  
  
"No, the boregobe," Kelly corrected, annunciating clearly.  
  
"Oh, the boregrobe." Niki said, quickly changing the subject. She asked the   
  
immortal, "What's for breakfast?"  
  
"Ohhh," Gabriel said, furrowing his brow. "Oh, yes, I remember. How do you say   
  
it, cow brain." Then he laughed heartily as Melissa's face blanched, and Niki gagged. "Or   
  
was it waffles? My memory fails me as I get old."  
  
"You're not old." Kelly said.  
  
"I'm nineteen hundred. That's pretty old." He said, talking simply for the 4 year   
  
old. She didn't answer him, not knowing numbers that big.  
  
"Are you really?" Niki wanted to know.  
  
"And twenty three years, to be exact." He said proudly. "In the prime of my life."   
  
Niki and Melissa exchanged a glance of disbelief. "I'm not human you know."  
  
"What are you then?" Melissa asked slowly, slightly frightened now.  
  
"Goblin, of course. You're not goblin prince for nothing." He noted the girls still   
  
thought that was incredible. "And I'm part Fae, and part...um...So, we ought to be at the   
  
dining room in a few minutes."  
  
Niki sighed. "Can't you just teleport" "Blink" Melissa supplied "To the dining   
  
room? My feet hurt."  
  
Gabriel considered it. "Oh, yes. I can believe I didn't think of it." He held out his   
  
free hand to Niki, and Kelly managed to hold it as well. Melissa got ready to jump, but   
  
she found Gabe staring at her intently.  
  
"Yes?" she said.  
  
"Direct contact." He said softly. Melissa sighed and took his hand. Her arm was   
  
aching anyway. He twined his fingers around hers, moving his thumb softly over her   
  
hand. She held her breath and waited until they blinked before she ripped her hand from   
  
him. She rubbed her hand, as she dirty-looked him.  
  
"Don't' do that," she hissed softly, not wanting to alert Niki to this new   
  
development in this plot of the Labyrinth.  
  
"Do what, poppet?" He said smiling, grabbing her hand and kissing it again   
  
before pulling out a chair for her. She smiled acidly, and sat down in the chair next to the   
  
one he pulled out. Gabriel sighed and sat down in it. Niki and Kelly sat on Melissa's   
  
other side, and looked at Gabriel expectantly. He sighed again and clapped his hands,   
  
signalling for the breakfast to be served. A line of green and blue heads appeared from   
  
under the table, bearing all sorts of steaming trays.  
  
Melissa noticed that Kelly's affliction hadn't lessened, and she still looked half-  
  
goblin. There were a wide variety of foods to choose from, but only Kelly did them   
  
justice, both Melissa and Niki were too nervous and excited to eat. After all, it's not   
  
everyday you get to go to the Labyrinth. Gabriel didn't eat, but he drank a reddish liquid   
  
with a lemon in it.  
  
"Drinking then, so early in the morning," Melissa asked darkly. For that horrible   
  
month she was locked away with all the alcoholics, she had enough knowledge to sense   
  
a drink.  
  
" Not alcohol, if that's what you believe." Gabriel said to her after he took a sip.   
  
His sharpish teeth were evident as he smiled at her. "You shall meet with the king at   
  
lunchtime. Lunch will be at thirteen."  
  
Niki looked at him oddly. Melissa continued eating in silence. As they finished,   
  
Gabriel stood. "I have to go speak with my brother. I'll be back to collect you in a few   
  
minutes."  
  
"We can't keep ourselves entertained?" Melissa asked disdainfully. She   
  
Continued staring at her plate.  
  
"It isn't often we have guests from another realm. I also would like to spend time   
  
With my daughter." Gabriel said to her. He said before he blinked to his brother   
  
(Wherever he was) "I shall return momentarily. Stay here."  
  
  
  
THE End...I wish.  
  
  



	6. The Toy Room

Ok, so here we are, chapter six, finally. I hope the eventually, I may finish this   
story. I think (granted thinking is a dangerous pastime) that this is about the halfway   
point, but I'm getting ahead of myself, since I am posting these as soon as I finish them.   
I hope you're enjoying this, I'm sorry for taking sooo much time writing it! Ok, well here   
goes.  
  
  
  
  
  
He blinked into the Royal chambers, where Jareth was looking out the window.   
  
"Too busy to come to breakfast?" He said, startling his brother.  
  
Jareth looked at him, and the crystals in his hands vanished. "Brother, I need to   
  
talk to you."  
  
"Jareth, if you're going to give me that speech about anger management,"  
  
"No."  
  
"Or about drinking human blood,"  
  
"No."  
  
Gabriel looked thoughtful. "Ok. You've got me."  
  
"It's about your making moves on the mortals." Gabriel looked at him sullenly.  
  
"What of it?" He said slowly.  
  
"I guess I'll have to ask why." Jareth said, looking interestedly at something in the   
  
Labyrinth. Gabriel looked at his feet.  
  
"What do you care? I take care of myself."  
  
"As I take care of my guests. I understand how you feel, if anyone does. Which   
  
one?" Jareth ordered. Gabriel looked at him darkly. "Which one!"  
  
"I do hate it when you do that brother. The eldest one, the one I transported in   
  
with."  
  
"Melissa then?"  
  
"Yes. Why does it matter? Will you protect her from me?"  
  
"You must follow the rules of the Labyrinth; she'll need no protecting. It only   
  
matters because the other girl, this Niki, is almost positively your daughter as well."  
  
Gabriel wasn't surprised, but to hear it spoken was a different matter.  
  
"She is almost sixteen. We're lucky we got her here. What will we do with her?"   
  
Gabe asked.  
  
"I suppose we'll have to keep her here as well." Jareth said sadly. "You have to   
  
go back to the mortals. Remember the rules of the Labyrinth."  
  
Gabriel sighed. "Surely I am exempt, brother. You won't force your silly laws on   
  
me?"  
  
"Even I follow them. You remember the crystal ball. Completely willing, or nothing   
  
will be allowed to happen. I seem to recall the other guests screaming now."  
  
Gabriel shot his brother a look of fury, and blinked out.  
  
******************************************************************************************  
  
Melissa sighed. "Stay. Sit. What does he think we are?"  
  
Niki smiled. "It just irks him that he never got to "Consequence us"."  
  
"I sort of wonder what he would do though." Melissa asked mischievously.  
  
"I can just guess. I'm sure it would involve chains." Niki said equally   
  
mischievously. Melissa grinned nervously. "Hey, but anyway, it seems he seems like he   
  
still plans to consequence you."  
  
Melissa frowned surely she didn't mean it. "Nu-uh. He's just being evil. You didn't   
  
hear his proposition before we got here."  
  
"I will." Niki said invitingly.  
  
"Well, he was pretending he was a councelor or something. They brought me in   
  
to talk to him, and he's like have some booze, or pills."  
  
"Really?" Niki asked, repulsed.  
  
"Yes. And I'm like, no I don't do those things, and Gabe was like "Well, perhaps   
  
you are addicted to something else." She imitated his accent, and almost perfectly   
  
captured his cultured tone. Niki and Kelly both giggled, but Niki's face turned serious.  
  
"I'd watch out if I were you. He might..."  
  
An angry accented voice cut in. "He might what?"  
  
Melissa and Niki both jumped out of their chairs. They both said "Nothing."   
  
Gabriel slunk up until he was right in front of Melissa. Her back was pressed up   
  
against the high-backed chair she had been sitting in. He put his arms right above her   
  
shoulders. His face was inches from hers. "Don't defy me. You're no match for me,   
  
Melissa."  
  
Melissa looked at him and pressed herself up against the chair as close as she   
  
could. He just stood there, looking directly into her eyes, his breath on her face. His dark   
  
face was furious, his eyes unreadable, his fangs bared. His fangs?  
  
"You're part vampire!" she said, acknowledging the obvious.  
  
His eyes narrowed, but he backed off. "Yes. Well, sorry then, didn't mean to   
  
scare you." He walked towards the end of the table. Niki looked at her with a superior   
  
look. Kelly hadn't acknowledged them.   
  
"Forgive me, I lost my temper. The king says he will see you all for lunch out at   
  
the beach. What would you like to do today?"  
  
"We might see the goblin city?" Niki suggested.  
  
"No, I...I am not allowed to leave the castle." Gabriel said embarrassed.  
  
"Maybe we could see the toy room!" Kelly suggested. The older ones laughed.  
  
"Is that alright with everyone?" Gabriel asked. They all nodded, and he offered   
  
them his hands.  
  
"Is it far? Perhaps we should walk." Melissa suggested. Gabriel looked hurt, and   
  
rubbed his temples.   
  
"It's about a mile. Up about 200 stairs." Gabriel said again offering his hands.   
  
Thankfully, Kelly took the hand Melissa grabbed, and Gabriel couldn't try any funny stuff.   
  
They blinked through without a problem, but Gabriel didn't release her hand, yet again,   
  
as they got into the nursery.  
  
It was a beautiful room, with dozens of window covering two sides of it. It was   
  
painted a bright white, with blue designs around the top. Covering the walls were tons of   
  
shelves, which held hundreds of toys. There were musical instruments, balls, dolls, and   
  
houses, even toy goblins. Every face lit up, because the room seemed to be made of   
  
childish fun. Kelly went over to a huge dollhouse in the corner; Niki went to inspect a life-  
  
sized rocking horse. Melissa went with a smile to the shelves of musical instruments,   
  
and Gabriel sat to watch it all in a huge beanbag, the only seat in the room.  
  
Niki came over to play with Melissa, and together they tried flutes, trumpets,   
  
lutes, violins, and drums. Melissa plinked on a baby grand piano as Kelly and Niki   
  
graced her playing with a dance. Then Kelly and Niki played for Melissa, Niki on a fife   
  
(an antique flute-like instrument) and Kelly playing skilfully on a tambourine. Melissa   
  
danced alone, Gabriel standing and watching with a barely concealed, wolfish smile. A   
  
one-person waltz was funny to watch, but at the end of Niki's song, and the start of the   
  
next, Melissa took to the sidelines with Gabriel, watching Kelly dance around as she   
  
tapped her tambourine. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a flash, and saw   
  
Gabriel had disappeared.   
As she looked around for him, she found him, righting in front   
  
of her, offering his hand. His smile was innocent and open. She gave him a warning look   
  
and accepting it, laughing as he began to waltz with her.  
  
"I've never danced like this before." She commented.  
  
"Everything's different in the Labyrinth. Things aren't as they seem." He said. He   
  
leaned to whisper in her ear. "Not even me."   
  
Melissa looked away and frowned. This was strange, dancing with someone who   
  
upset her so. She brushed it off and even laughed for good measure. She wouldn't let   
  
him intimidate her. She was a big girl; she could handle herself around men, even this   
  
one. He held her at a comfortable distance, not very close at all. He lead, and it was   
  
humorous to see a modern girl like Melissa, who hardly ever danced in public trying to   
  
waltz with a prince. It was a miracle that she didn't step on his feet. Gabriel chuckled,   
  
"You must practice, eh love?"  
  
Surprisingly, Melissa kept her cool. "Actually no. Perhaps it's a natural talent."  
  
"Very talented." He said as the song drew to a close. He dipped her towards the   
  
floor, holding her with one arm. She giggled and blushed, as the situation called for. He   
  
grinned and leaned in closer. Something in his eyes drew her closer, it seemed   
  
hypnotism was at work. She leaned up towards him, closing her eyes.  
  
"Melissa!" Niki screamed, startling her. Gabriel put her back on her feet. She   
  
grabbed Melissa arm and pulled her away so that Gabe couldn't hear them "Snap out of   
  
it, Lissa. He was hypnotizing you or something. You were dirty-looking him, and then you   
  
looked in his eyes or something. It was like you wanted to be kissed by that weirdo!"  
  
Melissa looked terribly confused. "I...I did, I think, but it wasn't me. I mean he's   
  
nice and everything, and he's cute, real cute, but I don't think I would..." Her voice trailed   
  
off as she glanced over her shoulder at him.  
  
Niki growled. "You don't really think he's cute!"  
  
"Well, no, but well, maybe a little"  
  
Niki stormed over to where Gabriel was looking in mock interest at a set of   
  
drumsticks. "You did something to Lissa!" she accused.  
  
He looked at her mockingly. "And what might that have been?" Melissa had   
  
followed Niki, and now went to stand nearer to Gabe. "Did you like our dance, poppet?   
  
We sort of got interrupted at the end."  
  
Melissa smiled at him. "Maybe we could continue somewhere more private?"   
  
Gabriel smiled wolfishly at her.  
  
"Gabriel!! I don't know what you're doing, but if you don't set her back, I'll, I'll sic   
  
Kelly on you!" Niki threatened. She was sure there was something fishy about Melissa's   
  
manner.  
  
Gabriel looked at Melissa and sighed. He reached to stroke her cheek, and she   
  
closed her eyes and purred. "Well, Kelly's teeth are pretty sharp. Alright." With that   
  
Melissa's eyes flew open, and she slapped Gabriel hard in the face, hard, before she could   
  
think about it. She rushed over to where Niki was standing. "I guess I deserved that,   
  
sweetling."  
  
Melissa growled now. "Don't call me sweetling, and never, ever try something like   
  
that again! Why, I was about to..." she trailed off and looked daggers at him.   
  
"Whatever you say, poppet. But you know, for that little spell to work, there had to   
  
be some foundation within you." He grinned wolfishly, making both girls uneasy. Niki   
  
wasn't sure what he meant, but Melissa had this nagging feeling she did. She didn't say   
  
anything aloud though.  
  
Kelly was looking at them all. She felt very left out of this conversation. "Excuse   
  
me? I'm done playing.' she said rudely to get some attention.  
  
"Oh, of course," Melissa said bitter sweetly. "After all, who likes to play with evil   
  
seductive vampires?"  
  
Kelly looked at her in puzzlement, and asked Niki, "What's sed-duck-tive?"  
  
Niki sighed and looked at Gabriel. "Nothing Kelly, forget it."  
  
Gabriel sighed and paced towards the door. "I suppose we could go to the   
  
seamstresses room and change for our meeting with his highness in a few hours."  
  
"You mean we can't wear this?" Niki asked. It had taken them a long time to find   
  
cloths that even slightly fit.  
  
"She has things in your size. We're right down the hall, and you can't go like that.   
  
What would Jareth think?" Gabriel said as he held open the door for them. Kelly walked   
  
through, but both Melissa and Niki stood there looking at him darkly until he released it,   
  
and then they opened it for themselves. Gabriel waited for them on the other side of the   
  
door. He kept his head down but fell into step with them, Kelly skipping merrily in front of   
  
them.   
  
The hallway was a long straight one again, a row of windows gracing one side,   
  
filtering warm midmorning sun. The view though was nothing special, only more of the   
  
castle, and a strip of the goblin city. Hardly a morning of gold, Melissa thought.  
  
Gabriel cleared his throat, "I'm sorry. I'm afraid I cannot always help myself. It   
  
wasn't quite my fault."  
  
Melissa was furious. "You couldn't help yourself?! What would've happened if   
  
Niki hadn't knocked some sense into me?"  
  
Gabriel looked grim. Niki muttered something and then ran to join her skipping   
  
sister. Gabriel said softly. "I would've stopped it."  
  
"When, Gabe? At your bed? How can I believe that? There's no saying where I   
  
would've stopped it." She said sadly. They walked in silence for a while.  
  
"Melissa," Gabriel started, grabbing both of her hands. His eyes pleaded with her.   
  
"I can't always control my instincts. Your trust means more to me than you think."  
  
"What if it happens again?" Melissa asked. Gabriel released her hands. Again it   
  
was there, that smothering silence. Melissa brightened "What else can you make people   
  
do?"  
  
Gabriel smiled, showing teeth that were back to normal. "Well, all the basics,   
  
walk off cliffs, fall asleep, think they're chickens. You've already seen the most powerful   
  
stuff I have."  
  
Melissa tried to smile, because she had tried to fight it, she thought, maybe if it   
  
happened again she could resist. She did smile, an untrue but visible one, and then ran   
  
to catch up with Niki.  
  
"Lissa's got a boyfriend." Niki taunted. Melissa stuck out her tongue at her friend.   
  
"But anyway, that man's old enough to be like your great-great-great-great-great..."  
  
"Great, thanks for the info." Melissa said dismissively. She glanced behind her to   
  
here Gabriel walked hands clenched behind his back, humming something to himself.   
  
"You've got to admit though, he does look good for his age."  
  
Niki caught her glare. "He tried to rape you!"  
  
"He only would've kissed me! He was just letting little Gabe do the thinking for big   
  
Gabe."  
  
"You seem so sure!" Niki shouted, suddenly lowering her voice and looking   
  
behind her nervously. Gabe appeared not to notice. "Just so you know, if he ever rapes   
  
you, I'm going to rip off his..."  
  
"You have my permission, if I ever rape her that is." Gabriel said to them, still a   
  
few paces behind. Niki scowled at him.  
  
"Stupid 1600-year old rapist" she muttered to Melissa, hopefully to quiet for him   
  
to hear.  
  
"It's not like I even like him. I just don't hate him." Melissa whispered. Niki   
  
snorted in reply.  
  
"Left here," Gabriel told them, jogging to catch up with the group.  
  
"How?" Kelly asked in wonderment. On both sides of them there was nothing but   
  
solid rock.  
  
"Untrusting mortals." Gabriel said, and then walked nonchalantly through the   
  
wall, disappearing on the other side. Melissa and Niki looked at each other in disbelief.   
  
Surely he couldn't believe they were dumb enough to believe that. Kelly skipped right   
  
through, startling them both. Doubtingly, Niki and Melissa slowly advanced. The wall was   
  
surprisingly not solid, and they both appeared unscratched on the other side.  
  
"Oh, bravo. You do trust me." Gabriel said, and then turned around to walk right   
  
into his brother. The Goblin King was looking especially formidable, and it seemed his   
  
brother was obviously to be the subject of his ire. "Oh, damn."  



	7. The girl who said no

Jareth smiled at the guests, then looked coldly at his brother. " I told you that the rules of the Labyrinth applied to you also, brother."  
Gabriel shuffled his suddenly interesting feet. His dark hair fell around his face, hiding his face from the girls. "She was willing."  
"Only after you hypnotized her! And we've talked about that!" Jareth shouted, losing his temper, which seemed to be a family trait. Gabriel looked slightly embarrassed.  
" I didn't break the law. We simply danced." Gabriel said. Melissa's dreadful feeling that they had been talking about her was right.  
"But if I hadn't played puppeteer and let Niki in on what you were doing there would've been a lot more to it, yes brother. You forget that not even your mind is a sealed place from me, not when I want to know." Jareth said icily. This made everyone except Kelly uncomfortable. Gabriel looked for a moment like he was going to hit his brother. Melissa shrank into a corner. Jareth kept glaring for a moment, but then sighed deeply. He beckoned to Melissa. "No need to hide, dear girl. He won't touch you while I'm around him. Is it true you were hypnotized by Gabriel?" He asked softly.   
It reminded Melissa of her time at the institute, and she felt unreasonably mad.  
"I think so, your highness but I'm not sure. It was true what he said, we simply danced." She said sourly, not so much mad at Gabriel but the King for treating her like something less superior than himself. She dug deep in her mind for some fantasy knowledge." I won't denounce him for it though."  
The king stared at her, and she felt oddly naked, like she had no secrets. Maybe he was reading her mind. "I am, by the way." The king said suddenly. "So that's the way it is?" Melissa nodded. "Fine then. Watch out for yourself, then, and I will watch out for you as well. I will move lunch up to 11:30, a mere 20 minutes from now. We all have things to discuss."  
And with that, the handsome king blinked out to Goddess knows where, leaving all the girls staring opened mouthed at the place he had been, and Gabriel glowering fiercely at it. It took them all a while to recover.  
"What did you mean," Niki questioned." 'I won't denounce him'."  
Melissa looked at her feet. What had made her say that anyway?   
"She didn't want me to get in trouble, "Gabriel said, answering Niki question. "The seamstress' is right over there, he said, leading them into a doorway on their right at a brisk pace. The seamstress turned out to be a non-goblin, something surprising in the goblin city. She turned out to be an elf. Her small stature was made up for with a gigantically tall, violet hat atop her jade-green hair. Her nose, shoes and ears ended with a sharp point, as did her hat.   
She walked up to them, and then said with a chittering voice. "So you're finally here, eh? I've been a waiting for you then." She looked at the four of them. "You you're the one I'm to dress. Come here, come in," she said to the girls, leading them into a back room as she continued talking. She shut the door, leaving Gabriel outside.  
"Now you," she said to Kelly," I 'ave just the thing for you. Come on, come get changed, you'll look pert as a penny, now, won't cha dear?" Kelly followed the lady-elf through a small door into what appeared to be a changing room. Similar fates met the other two girls. Then there was a brief period of silence punctuated by remarks.  
"I'm not wearing this!"  
"Why don't I get pants?"  
"I look sooo pretty!"  
"I look like a Jewish harlot!"  
"Joe charlotte!"  
"I can't wear this to lunch!"  
"I'd simply die."  
The elf walked around, sympathizing with all three, but not making a move to change the outfits she picked for them. Kelly was thoroughly pleased with her outfit, but she was alone in that boat. She wore a little green outfit, fitting to their time period. The elf obviously had to help her with the time on the front.  
Niki hadn't gotten as lucky as her sister. She wore a dress straight out of the forties. With huge purple fluffy sleeves, this purple dress was obviously from someone's version of "hell". It was tight fitting to about the mid-thigh, where it fluffed out to layer after layer of purple iridescent fabric.   
Melissa temporarily brightened. "Going to lumbago, Latino Nikito?"  
Niki stuck out her tongue, and then laughed at Melissa's dress, which wasn't much better than her own. The dress was a ball gown style in a dazzling scarlet. Melissa felt like she was on fire. Her lips had been painted (by the elf) to match. The obnoxiously low-cut and tight fitting bodice was her main complaint though. The fluffy skirt was made of the finest, spider-web material. She hated the whole thing.  
"Going to waltz at a funeral party, or blood bank or something Melissa?" Niki asked her. "I didn't know you were a Goth."  
Melissa "harrumphed" and crossed her arms.  
The elf sighed as she surveyed the girls with a look of immense pride. "Awww...what a good job Silva's done, cancha see? Totally flattering for your loverly figures, yup yup."  
"A ha, I'm underground." Niki said in a most unenthusiastic way.  
"An' now to show of you little wonders, you, um hmm." Silva, as she called herself, said. She opened wide the curtain wall that had previously hidden them from Gabriel..  
Gabe hadn't changed at all, except now he wore a cape. He stared at the three in turn, his face holding back on laughing himself to death (or redeath).  
He said very calmly, "You remind me of the babe."  
Melissa looked at him," what babe?"  
"The babe with the power." Answered in a singsong voice.  
"What power?" Niki asked now worried about this strange man.  
"The power of voodoo"  
"Who do?" Asked Silva who had just emerged from what seemed to be solid wall, getting into the conversation.  
"You do" Gabriel said melodically.  
"Do what?" Kelly asked before Melissa and Niki could clap their hands over her grinning mouth.  
"Remind me of the babe! I saw my baby..." He began singing frantically and dancing to top it all off. Niki and Melissa were glad he hadn't really commented on their dresses. They all stared at the spectacle that was Gabe. He finally finished dancing when nobody wanted to know "what babe?" "Well you're no fun!"  
Then everyone except for Gabriel and the mysterious elf who had re-disappeared began laughing hysterically. Gabe pouted.  
After about fifteen minutes of watching the girls laugh and roll on the floor and re-enact what he thought was a perfectly normal and natural fit of singing, he said curtly, "We're going to be late."  
Melissa and Niki wiped their eyes, and the laughing abated. They all took Gabe's hands (though rather grudgingly) and blinked away.  
  
  
  
  
  
The sunlight they blinked into was almost blinding after the darkness of candle or torchlight. When their eyes adjusted, they were on a beautiful white sand beach. The water was crystal clear, and ran out from on of the walls of the castle, and into another wall. The four of them were standing in a sort of courtyard, and were surrounded on all sides by the walls of the castle. An odd place for a beach, but it was a beautiful one.   
"Why doesn't the sunlight bother you?" Melissa asked Gabe, wondering about his heritage.  
"It does." He replied as he hurried for a large beach umbrella cunningly located near to their blink-out point. Then Melissa laughed as she noticed Kelly had wasted no time; she shed her slippers (which matched the dress), hoisted up her skirt, and went straight for the water.  
"Wait, no Kelly! You'll soil your dress!" Niki shouted after her, surprised at herself for caring. But another little boy played there as well, his untidy bright blond hair reflecting the sun as much as the water was. The queen apparently had been sitting under and umbrella. She walked up to Niki to stand beside her.  
"Don't worry, She'll be safe if she's with Jarethkin. He swims like a fish!" she said, motherly pride affecting her tone. Niki was still regretful about the dress, but she didn't argue. "Come, sit with us. We have many things to discuss."  
So they all settled themselves under the giant umbrella, Jareth and Sarah on thronely beach chairs, Gabriel standing, the girls sitting awkwardly (because of the dresses) in the sand. The umbrella's large circle shadow kept them cool, but wouldn't help them keep their cool, it seemed.  
"Alright now." The king said, signalling for the deliberation to begin. "First order of business, discuss what to do with Kelly since she can't go back to Earth now since she has been exposed to the underground."  
"I still don't quite understand that." Melissa said, hoping for an explanation.  
" It's quite simple." The queen said kindly. "The lack of magic on Earth will cause a magical, or half magical creature to mutate and go insane, in one of two occasions. One is if they are introduced to magic in the Underground, and two is if they turn 16."  
"We're going to be 16 soon!" Niki said excitingly. Their birthdays were a mere week apart.  
"That's number two on the agenda, Niki's being part Goblin." Jareth said calmly, continuing his list.  
Niki jumped up so fast Gabe had to jump out of the way. "I am part GOBLIN!!" she shouted. "How can I be part Goblin? It's all your fault, Gabriel!"  
Gabriel went even whiter. "Well you didn't really suspect you two had different father?"  
"Of course we did! That's what our Mom always told us!" Niki said, infuriated. "I'm not part Goblin, you guys are trying to trick me."  
Melissa looked at her nervously. "Um...Niki?"  
"What?!"   
"Your...your teeth...um, they're pointy. Come to mention it, so are your ears." She said backing away form her friend.  
Niki screamed as she realized this was true.  
"She got your temper I see. Jareth said brightly. Gabriel, Niki, and Melissa looked at him darkly. "Ok, well, third order of business. There isn't one. Alright then, down to business."  
The Queen seemed to be the one most in control. "Alright, well what would you like to do Niki? We'll obviously want to keep you and your sister together, seeing as you can't go back home."  
Niki chewed on her bottom lip. She said more to herself then the group listening, "Maybe I can live in a cave...with a pet dragon!"   
"I'm quite sure it would rather eat your hand than be pet with it." Jareth said, amused by this all too mortal conception about dragons. Gabe was unusually quiet; he stayed half-crouched under the umbrella. Melissa gave him a questioning look but he only smiled weakly.  
"Honey, suppose they lived with us." The queen said slowly.  
"But love! There are eleven of Gabriel's children here already! We need to teach him discipline, maybe a few more years in the dung..."  
The queen shushed him loudly over Gabriel's hiss. "Sweetheart, they're living with us and that's final."  
Jareth sighed but smiled; he never had much power over the decisions of the castle anymore. Gabriel sighed with relief at the prospect of returning to the castle. Niki wasn't psyched at the prospect, but she could live with that. "I will give you employ at my castle until such a time when you are learned enough to find a place to live in the Underground, or you learn control enough to return to the mortal realms."  
" So she'll be like a kitchen wench?" Melissa asked in amusement. Niki shot her a dirty look.  
The queen gently corrected her. "No, She'll be one of my personal women until she chooses to marry or find a job better suited to her. She is after all, a princess." Niki shot Melissa a triumphant look. Melissa's look however was downcast.  
"Perhaps we might work out the details inside the castle?" Gabriel suggested. He looked extremely uncomfortable, his eyes were suddenly red-rimmed and his skin looked paler then usual. Jareth looked him over.  
"Quite right, inside then." Jareth said, standing up and brushing off the stray sand from his tights.  
"Jarethkin!" Queen Sarah shouted to the tow-headed boy in the water near Kelly. The young boy came bounding up, showering them all with the clear water. Kelly followed. The young queen laughed and gathered Jarethkin up in her arms, blinking out.  
"I didn't know mortals could do that!" Melissa speculated.  
"She's not mortal...anymore." Gabriel said with a wink, catching Melissa's hand and following the queen. Melissa laughed then looked around them. They were in what appeared to be a tower, surrounded by shadowy windows on all sides. The view was spectacular, and Melissa leaned back against Gabe unwittingly in a moment of vertigo. Gabriel chuckled, gently setting her right. The queen laughed, Jarethkin on her hip. The boy's blue-green eyes sparkled with amusement. The entire Labyrinth was visible from that room.  
"But doesn't the light..." she asked to Gabriel, who was looking remarkable better.  
He smiled at her concern. "The glass, you see, it is UV protected."  
If Melissa found this odd, she didn't say anything. "But what about Niki and Kelly?"  
And then Jareth blinked in, escorting both of them. Seems Melissa couldn't get a word in edgewise these days. Niki was grinning at something he had said. Jareth clapped his gloved hands. Two lines of goblins streamed in from trapdoors in the floor, bearing streaming trays and icy pitchers. They set them up on a glass table in the middle of the circular room. Melissa and Niki were pleased because they hadn't had much breakfast.  
Without much ado, they all sat down as the goblins unlidded tray after tray of gourmet goodies. Melissa and Niki found their appetites and helped themselves. Kelly and Jarethkin groaned as they got a scoop of green vegetables each from a goblin lady.  
"So, I guess that's it for me?" Melissa asked quietly.  
"Hmm, yes." The king said. "The accident about bringing you here was really quite helpful, you providing emotional support for Niki, and her sister, of course."  
" Of course." Melissa said dryly as she took a sip of her pomegranate juice.  
"Oh Lissa!" Niki cried, "I'm never gonna see any of you again!"  
Gabriel sighed. "Emotional breakdown time. I thought some of them might take after their sire."  
"Glad to see you're so sensitive!" Melissa hissed to him, comforting Niki at the same time. He bit his lip and looked away darkly. Once Niki had stopped the room was encircled with silence.  
Jareth swallowed and stood, "Gabriel, I trust you will take her back to her original place and time."  
"Yes, certainly, brother." He said, looking intently into his glass.  
"Alright then, I've matters to attend with the two newest inhabitants of the underground." He smiled warmly and took Niki's hand, and Kelly's as well. They blinked out, followed shortly by the queen. Melissa and Gabriel were alone.  
"Well, you're not going to return me exactly where we left of, are you?" Melissa asked, joking uneasily.  
"I suppose not, unless, that is, you'd like that..." Under Melissa's fierce glance he quickly added, "only joking!"   
Melissa glowered in her chair as Gabriel finished his "drink". "Look, love, I'm sorry I suspected you were that easily enticible. I've learned my lesson; let's just get this over with."  
She sighed and grabbed his cold hand, and then they blinked into his office at the psyche hospital. Gabriel's hand was still on her shoulder enticingly, but he snatched it away and walked calmly behind his desk. Melissa's cloths had reverted to the street cloths she was wearing before she went to the Labyrinth in. Gabe was still wearing his Underground cloths. He smiled and grabbed his normal ones from a drawer.  
"I have to change as you can see. Would you mind, well, turning around?" Gabriel asked embarrassed slightly. Melissa smiled. "And no peeking." Melissa only gave him this look. "Ok, if that's how you feel..." and he began to untuck his shirt, revealing white flesh beneath.  
"Arghhh!!" Melissa shouted, looking away. "You were supposed to go change in the closet, then I'd lock you in and escape this horrible place."  
"Sorry to disappoint you." Gabriel said amusedly as he continued changing.  
"I thought you said we wouldn't return here." Melissa said disappointedly.  
"I said that we weren't going to return exactly where we left off." Gabriel said sardonically. "You did not specify place. All right, I'm finished."  
Melissa turned around, and sure enough he had changed back into his business costume. His eyes were still that piercing blue. "Your eyes, they, aren't...green."  
Gabriel's eyes widened at her perceptiveness as they shifted quickly back to his moss green mortal colour. "So glad you noticed, didn't know you cared."  
"So this is it, then? You're leaving me back in this piss hole until I rot?" Melissa asked, finally bringing up the topic that had been bugging her since she had gotten into this whole mess.  
"That's it, is it?" Gabriel visibly relaxed. "I've got it all figured out. Come with me."  
Melissa was suspicious but couldn't see any better way out. She tried to conceal her flinch as Gabriel, or Dr. Gabe, put his arm around her and led her towards the front desk.  
He paused briefly at the front desk. "Hello Alison," The pretty blonde secretary smiled flirtatiously and Melissa felt the pang of something akin to jealousy. "This girl, Melissa Kombustule, is my patient. We have made a breakthrough, and I believe she is ready to leave, with my permission. Gather her belongings, if you will love, and have them sent to her home. We will be leaving now."  
And with that, Melissa walked out the metal doors into the sunlit freedom. As they walked down the street, Melissa began jumping and then shouting for joy, "I'm free-ee-ee, I'm free-ee-ee!! Thank you so much Gabe!" And she swept him up into a bear hug, which he returned. "But did you hypnotize...oh well, it doesn't matter, I'm free!"   
Gabriel smiled and understood her feeling. "Now I'm going to take you home, that is, if that is what you want."  
Melissa shot him a puzzled look. "If you're suggesting..."  
"No, no, love, I'm simply saying that maybe because your father had you wrongly committed, you might not want to go back there." Gabe said softly, leaning forward to see her face as they walked down the block towards his car.  
"No, no, it's alright." Melissa said, obviously not believing it, or at least obvious to a vampire's keen sense. "He normally treats us well, he can't be good all the time. It's the only place I have."  
Gabriel, if shocked by this holding back, wisely said nothing. "I have places, apartments, houses, cottages. I don't use them all. If you wanted, you could stay in one of them."  
"It's not that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, it's just, I have to go back to my family, if it's all the same." She said meekly, a quality Gabriel didn't think existed in this fiery girl.  
He sighed but stepped in front of her to open the passenger car door in his green mustang convertible. "I like to live in style." he said to her as she commented on it. He walked around to the driver's side, blaring Ziggy Stardust as they got onto the main road. They jammed together, but the wind and music combined was too loud for conversation.  
As the twilight began to impinge on the warmth, Gabriel pulled over into a fast food parking lot. He gave Melissa a few dollars to run inside and get some food, since she hadn't eaten since 11:30, and crossing between worlds could give humans quite an appetite. She got back in the car with her chicken sandwich. Melissa looked at Gabe, "Not eating?"  
"I don't think any of these humans would appreciate it," Gabriel said with a chuckle, his green eyes connecting with Melissa's hazel glance for a second too long. The both looked at the dashboard discomforted. Gabriel tried to cheer Melissa up," Well, only a few more hours and you will be home."  
"Oh, yey. I'm psyched." Melissa said with the very most sarcastic tone she could manage.  
"You may as well take a nap, I'll alter your family's memories so they think nothing wrong with a dashingly handsome young doctor driving their young daughter home from rehab." He flashed a grin at her, and then waved his hand in front of her face. She slept, and awoke in her own bed. She didn't see the tall dark figure set her down gently upon it, and then with a heartbreaking sigh, leave the room to alter memories.  
She awoke the next morning feeling refreshed, her memories of the Labyrinth still so vivid she could hardly get them out of her mind. She smiled in the morning sunlight, at the crimson silk shirt folded neatly across her bed.  
"To Melissa, the mortal who said no."  



	8. Epilouge-The girl who said yes

Niki dived onto her plush-covered bed. The view from her new bedroom was as   
spectacular as it had been before, that day three weeks ago when she had eaten her   
last lunch with a mortal. Now the dining room had been converted to her bedroom, with a   
small private bath too. Kelly slept in the room directly below, but was too small to climb   
the ladder to the trapdoor, so Niki finally had peace and quiet for once.  
They had even shipped in some cloths from Aboveground so she didn't have to   
wear her "flambago" dress anymore. She had met all of her half-brothers and -sisters   
from their strange parentage, and had even danced with one of the Vampire boys from   
the next country over. She was beginning to think life in the Labyrinth wouldn't be to   
damned bad after all, cute boys, some free time to spend alone, less formal schooling,   
learning to be a princess. Her teacher, Hoggle, even said she might be able to visit the   
mortal realm during Yuletide, if she kept doing so well with her control. Everyone had   
been very sympathetic when she had turned into a giant green bat on her first attempt   
back to the mortal realm, especially that nice boy, Godzilla.  
She smiled as she sank deep into the rich pillows and comforter on her new bed.   
She might even learn to love it here. The only thing she missed were her family and   
friends, although once she learned to blink into the mortal realms safely, that wouldn't be   
a problem. She grinned, a trait she picked up from her father, and conjured a blue   
crystal. She wished she could do clear like Jareth, or at least that pretty peach color of   
the queen, but her color was better then most, so she gazed into until the image inside   
blurred and cleared.  
  
  
The girl with the dark hair sat on the old bridge alone, watching the foam rush out   
from underneath. The bruise on her cheekbone did little to hide the ever-present sparkle   
in her hazel eyes. She barely even looked up when the hand lay on her shoulder.  
"This is the third time in three weeks." The gentle voice said as the tall, lean   
figure sat down next to her. "Surely you can't allow this to continue!"   
"No." Melissa said meekly.  
"I can't bear to allow this to continue. Let me take you to one of my houses, back   
to the Labyrinth, anything, please." Gabriel pleaded with this mortal girl in the too-big silk   
shirt.  
Melissa sighed and moved closer to Gabriel. He gently placed his arm on her   
shoulder; she hid her wince. "What about them, about him?"  
" If he cared, he wouldn't touch you." Gabriel said softly, pushing a lock of hair   
out of her face. "Come, love, it is for the better."  
"No, no no no…yes." Melissa looked at him, tears in her eyes. He smiled softly at   
her, then. His teeth were as plain and dull as everyone else's. Melissa smiled weakly,   
growing strong as her picked her up and swung her in a circle.   
"How I hoped you'd say that, love!" Gabriel laughed, and then blinked them both   
out onto the deck of his room. The full moon hung over the darkened Underground, a   
dull pink in all her glory. Gabriel stood with his arms wrapped around Melissa, staring at   
the moon.  
"Will you stay?" He asked her quietly, as though the whole Labyrinth might hear   
them.  
"Of course. I can't go back anymore." She said, trying to twist around and see her   
face. He playfully held her still.  
"No. I mean with me." Gabriel's breath ruffled Melissa's hair. She stayed silent,   
her breath falling into the rhythm of the Labyrinth.  
"No." she said finally. "I'm too young, I'm not ready. The castle, definitely, but with   
you, 24-7, I wouldn't survive."  
Now Gabriel was the one who kept his silence. "But you would, I mean, you   
might have…"  
Melissa chuckled. "I've never known you to be tongue tied before Gabe."  
In the dark he smiled, then shut his eyes. "What I meant is…I love you. Not the   
lustful longing I've felt for mortals before, but something deeper, more psychological than   
hormonal, and I just wondered if, maybe…"  
Melissa smiled in the darkness now. "I maybe love you too, Gabe."  
They stood there for a moment, Melissa staring at the moon, Gabriel staring at   
the dark shape that was his Melissa. Then he spun her around, her face, her lips, and   
mere hair lengths from his. "I'm so very glad." And he kissed her, but on the cheek.   
"Maybe after a few months in the Labyrinth, you'll be prepared to handle me?"  
She smiled at him. "Perhaps, although it would help if I had magic powers…"  
He smiled back, the moonlight glinting off his sharpening teeth. "That can be   
arranged," he said huskily, but then he shook his head, snapping himself out of it. "Only   
when you're ready, though love."  
"Sexually transmitted powers?" She questioned, drawing back from Gabe   
playfully.  
"Oh, yes. But until then, there is the small matter of your sleeping arrangements,   
dearest." And they walked, arm and arm, back into Gabriel's room, as friends, until the   
time came when they might be more, the quarter vampire: heir to the throne, and the girl   
who said yes.  



End file.
